A Sydney-based luxury auction house has confirmed it recently responded to a cyber security incident after it was mentioned in connection with a data breach on a popular underground hacking forum.
A hacker posting under the name sexyskin claimed to be in possession of more than one million lines of customer data comprising names, emails, phone numbers, and address details in October.
The data was essentially shared for free for anyone willing to pay for it with site credits, which can be bought on the forum for trading purposes.
A spokesperson for First State Auctions told Cyber Daily the company was aware of the hackers’ claims.
“First State Auctions is aware that an external party published some information online which relates to our organisation,” the spokesperson said.
“We confirm that we recently experienced an incident, during which an unauthorised external party accessed part of a system that contains some of our customer information.
“We took immediate steps to contain the event and engaged leading experts to provide advice. Based on their investigation to date, the extent of impact appears to be mostly limited to basic contact information. There is no evidence that credit card details or passwords are impacted.”
First State said it had contacted affected customers and provided advice to protect their information.
The Australian Cyber Security Centre and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner have also been informed.
“The event has not impacted operations, and we continue to trade as normal,” the spokesperson added.
Who is First State Auctions?
Established in 1995, First State Auctions specialises in luxury goods such as watches, designer bags, and jewellery.
“For more than 30 years, we’ve built a reputation grounded in trust, expertise, and results – connecting sellers with a global audience of engaged buyers across Australia, New Zealand, and beyond,” the company says on its website.
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